ISSTH – Book 3 – Chapter 295

As more news spread about the Immortal’s corpse, the Violet Fate Sect gradually began to pay closer attention to the matter. The first to be dispatched were some Chosen from the Violet Qi Division, along with a Sect Elder. It was at around the same time that other of the great Sects and Clans also sent their forces there.

At the same time, more and more Southern Domain Cultivators gathered in the region of the Rebirth Cave, hoping to eke out some good fortune there.

The momentous events in the Southern Domain went so far as to attract the attention of the Western Desert. Actually, years ago, when the corpse had just fallen from the sky, Western Desert Cultivators had arrived to investigate. Because of the new rumors spreading about the corpse, large amounts of Western Desert Cultivators once again appeared.

Even the Eastern Lands viewed the developments with importance and sent Cultivators.

Eventually, the Cultivators gathering around the Rebirth Cave and the Immortal’s corpse found out something very bizarre. The Cultivation base of any Nascent Soul Cultivator who approached the corpse would be severely suppressed. If they continued to push forward, it would eventually be pushed down to the Core Formation stage.

Core Formation Cultivators, on the other hand, experienced no hindrances whatsoever.

Even more bizarre was that any Cultivator who touched the corpse, which resembled something like a small mountain, would immediately disappear, teleported away. Most would be teleported back into the area a short while later.

When recounting their experience, everyone described things differently.

One person saw a river, another saw buildings, palaces and temples. One caught sight of precious treasures, but was unable to acquire them. Another described seeing Celestial Pills, and one person, pill formulas carved onto stone walls. Even more far-fetched was someone who claimed to have seen a battlefield, deep in the middle of which was a coffin!

There were all sorts of descriptions, none exactly alike.

All of this made the Immortal’s corpse even more fantastic, and caused it to attract even more people to come investigate.

In a period of a few months, the Violet Fate Sect had already dispatched five groups of people. Starting with the fourth group, it wasn’t just the Violet Qi Division who went, but also alchemists from the East Pill Division.

This was because the Cultivator who had seen pill formulas was none other than a Violet Qi Division disciple. After returning and telling his tale, it only took a few days for the East Pill Division to include alchemists with the fourth group dispatched.

The leaders of this particular group was none other than Ye Feimu, An Zaihai and Ye Yuntian.

Three Violet Furnace Lords emerged simultaneously, along with experts from the Violet Qi Division. This was the fourth wave sent to enter the region of the Immortal’s corpse.

A month passed, and more bizarre events occurred. The various Sects and Clans continued to dispatch more people, now, even eccentrics of the Patriarch level appeared.

It was at this time that the Violet Fate Sect began organizing the fifth group of people to travel to the Rebirth Cave.

By this time, Meng Hao had been in secluded meditation for half a year. It was three days after the fifth group left, led by Chu Yuyan and Lin Hailong, that he finally emerged.

When he walked out from the subterranean cavern, his body was somewhat weak. However, his eyes were filled with profundity much deeper than before. There was no evidence on him that he possessed the Everburning Flame. However, if you looked deep into his eyes, you couldn’t help but think that there was some massive conflagration deep therein.

Meng Hao had already melded the East Pill Everburning Flame into his mind and heart. Once he broke through from Foundation Establishment and formed a Violet Core, then he could transform it, and cause the Everburning Flame to ignite, and never be extinguished!

After emerging from meditation, Meng Hao could immediately sense the storm winds which flitted about the Sect. After some inquiries, he learned about the phenomena regarding the Immortal’s corpse which had begun half a year previous.

Meng Hao actually knew much more about the Immortal’s corpse than most others. On more than one occasion, he had gotten the feeling that the corpse had fallen into the world… because it was searching for him.

This speculation caused him to hesitate, and hold back from nearing the thing.

Hearing the various stories regarding the corpse caused Meng Hao to think about the matter quietly for a while. Then, he went to pay a formal visit to his Master. Afterward, he decided to once again go into secluded meditation, this time, to concoct a Three Mortalities Pill and break through to Core Formation.

At the moment, Meng Hao was thoroughly within the great circle of Foundation Establishment. The only road for him now was the one leading to becoming a Core Formation Expert.

After that, he could cultivate Core Qi, and then he could truly rise to prominence. Then, even Core Formation Cultivators would have to be careful around him. Many new paths would open up.

You could say becoming a Core Formation expert is truly becoming a Cultivator!

The breathing exercises that Cultivators practice are actually a way of preparing for the path of Core Formation, and counts as just the beginning. During Foundation Establishment, a foundation is laid; the more solid it is, the more powerful the result will be in Core Formation. In fact, Core Formation… is the first true explosive power upon the path of cultivation.

Core Formation Cultivators can use Core Qi to make magical techniques reach the pinnacle of power. Beyond that pinnacle, such techniques become divine abilities. Divine abilities are techniques that really only Nascent Soul Cultivators can master.

“Charge through to Core Formation!” thought Meng Hao. His eyes gleamed with stubborness as he sat cross-legged in his Immortal’s Cave. He waved his right sleeve, and a black pill furnace materialized. As soon as it did, the face of a youth appeared on its surface. It stared hatefully at Meng Hao, its eyes filled with venomous hatred as it screamed a noiseless scream.

It was still filled with rage because Meng Hao had taken it out from the world of the Mother of Furnaces.

Meng Hao eyed the materialized youth on the surface of the black pill furnace. Then, he snorted coldly. The spirit of the pill furnace was unable to tell the difference between good and bad. Whenever Meng Hao used it to concoct pills, it was always filled with resentment.

“Since it seems you are seeking to die, I’ll help you to understand what it means to live a life worse than death. It won’t be long before you’re pleading with me to help you.” With that, he grabbed the black pill furnace, and, ignoring the fierce struggling on the face of the youth, as well as the noiseless screaming, he directly placed it into the blood-colored mask.

“Elder Ultimate Vexation, this is the spirit I spoke of a while ago. I joined this Sect just to capture this bully. May I prevail upon you to convert it?”

The meat jelly was currently perched atop a listless, ingratiating Li Clan Patriarch, leaning over and looking down at him. When it heard Meng Hao’s words, it began to tremble, and its eyes shone with a brilliant light. Filled with excitement, it immediately looked at the black pill furnace which Meng Hao had delivered to it.

“Fear not,” said the meat jelly with a smile. “You may be immoral, you may be incorrect, but you can rest at ease. The great, handsome, kind-hearted Ultimate Vexation will help bring you back from the path of wickedness!” It hopped over next to the black pill furnace….

Meng Hao retracted his Spiritual Sense, ignoring the spirit of the furnace. Instead, he pulled out the Ten Thousand Refinements furnace and some medicinal herbs. After a moment’s thought, he devoted himself fully to pill concoction.

He would concoct the Three Mortalities Pill, which was required to be able to break through from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation.

The diligence with which Meng Hao focused on concocting the medicinal pill he needed for his breakthrough does not need to be described in detail. He took a full half a month, which, considering it didn’t involve alchemic enlightenment, was actually quite a long time for him, something that didn’t happen very often.

Half a month later, he looked down at the Three Mortalities Pill in his palm, and took a deep breath. Then, he started to duplicate it. Early in the morning of the next day, Meng Hao unhesitatingly consumed a Three Mortalities Pill and began to circulate the power of Violet Qi from the East in an attempt to form a Violet Core.

Days passed. Meng Hao lost track of how many Three Mortalities Pills he consumed. He had never imagined that using the ten Dao Pillars of the Perfect Foundation to form a Violet Core would be such a difficult process.

A month went by, and Meng Hao was completely immersed in using the Three Mortalities Pill to reach Core Formation. However, after a month of attempts, he had not succeeded. He was only a bit away, but no matter what he did, the only thing he could do was produce violet Qi. Every time he tried to form it into a Core, he failed.

Failure after failure caused Meng Hao to begin to regret having borrowed such a vast amount of Spirit Stones from the Sect after becoming a Violet Furnace Lord. Watching them flow away like water caused him intense pain. However, there was nothing he could do about it.

“Based on this rate of success, could my chances of success with ten Dao Pillars really be one in a thousand?” Meng Hao sighed. That thought was quite frightening. Without the copper mirror, his Cultivation base would never be able to progress beyond Foundation Establishment.

He sat thinking for a while, his brow furrowed, considering Li Daoyi and the others, and their breakthrough at the Dao Geyser.

“It must have something to do with my ten Dao Pillars,” sighed Meng Hao. He didn’t completely give up; based on his speculation just now, even if he only had a one in a thousand chance, that meant there was still hope.

“The first step is to form a Violet Core. Then after I concoct the Perfect Gold Core pill, I can form a Gold Core. For me, the Core Formation stage will involve a huge jump in power. Once I’m at Core Formation, I can wear the blood-colored mask and employ the Blood Immortal’s divine abilities! Also, according to what the meat jelly said, after I reach Core Formation, the parrot will appear….” Meng Hao’s eyes filled with determination as he thought these things.

“I must form a Violet Core!” He flicked his sleeve, and was about to go borrow some more Spirit Stones when, suddenly, his entire body trembled.

It wasn’t just him that was shaking, it was everything around him. More than half of the Southern Domain was vibrating, and the center of it all was none other than the Immortal’s corpse, where nearly one hundred thousand Cultivators had gathered in the vicinity of the Rebirth Cave.

The vibration came from the chest of the corpse, as if its heart were beating. It emanated out in all directions, rocking the earth, sending out ripples through the land. As it spread, it touched mountaintops, sweeping through one Sect after another.

The location of the Violet Sect Fate was not incredibly far away, so it was also affected. Many people heard it, and their hearts shook. Meng Hao suddenly paused, lifting his hand up to feel his chest.

He could feel the vibrations which filled everything. Suddenly, his expression changed, because at that moment he realized that, to him, the vibrations sounded like a beckoning.

In his estimation, it was a beckoning that came from none other than the Immortal’s corpse, which he had been trying so hard to avoid!

Filling the beckoning was an archaic voice that sounded directly into Meng Hao’s mind.

“You…. I know your bloodline. I know where you’re from….

“You…. Do you want to know why you could see me in that other world all those years ago…?

“You…. Do you want to know what world that was…?

“I came here for you, and I’ve been waiting a long time. Come to me. Come to me here…. You will know the truth about everything!”

The voice sounded ancient, as if it were floating through countless years of time, filled with ancient Qi. As it echoed within Meng Hao’s mind, it caused his blood vessels to surge. Blood pumped rapidly through his body. Suddenly, on the back of his right hand… a greenish mark appeared! 1